A Day in the Limelight
by Izout
Summary: A look into the lives of the lesser focus Stand By Me characters.
1. Vince

Disclaimer: Not mines, don't sue.

A/N: This fic is more of a response to, what I like to call, too much focus on the popular characters. At times it can feel like, and I'll admit I've even done it myself at times, the only Stand By Me characters who can hold a plotline in this fandom are Chris, Ace, and Eyeball (Though, how Eyeball ever got popular is a mystery worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). Everybody else are either vague background characters, ignored, or almost completely disregarded.

Now, I'm not saying that the above characters aren't interesting or don't deserved to be explored in fanfiction, but darn it, there are other characters in Stand By Me, you know? So this fic is an attempt to see if I can get some stories out of these guys. Let's see how long I can keep this going before the inevitable lack of interest/motivation kicks in!

* * *

"Vince? Vince, sweetie, wake up, it's time for breakfast!" A feminine voice called out from down the hallway from Vince's room.

Rubbing the sleep from his bloodshot eyes, Vince Desjardin let out a yawn and lifted his head shouting, "I'll be there in a minute, Ma." Vince rolled out of the bed and stood up, looking around his room to find a clean enough shirt to wear and some pants. He put them on and made his way to the kitchen, about to reach the opening of the hallway when his mother called out,

"Vince, did you remember to wash your face and hands?"

Vince stared at her stunned. "Uh…"

"Vince, do it, _now_." His mother said sternly. Vince just groaned and turned around, making his way to the bathroom.

"Jesus fuckin' Christ!" He muttered under his breath.

"Vince, language!" Roared his father.

"Sorry Pop." And with that said, Vince went into the bathroom to wash up. After half a minute, Vince came into the kitchen and sat down at the table, grabbing some pancakes, ham, and a glass of orange juice.

"So Vince, what did you do yesterday with your friends?" Asked Mrs. Desjardin; a rather skinny woman with brown hair, saggy tits, and green eyes.

"Nothing special." Vince simply said, shoving a piece of pancake into his mouth.

"Come on, Vince, tell your mother what happened yesterday." Said Mr. Desjardin, a burley looking man with dirty blond hair and brown eyes; Vince mostly takes after his dad.

"Tell me anything, I'll be satisfied with just one little thing." Mrs. Desjardin said in an encouraging voice. Vince sighed.

"Well, last night, Ace ran into a rival of his from the View and spent a good twenty minutes beating the sh - I mean, poo out of him. And when we were going out for drinks, we found we were short on cash, but Eyeball spotted his little brother and his friends and… let's say we all manage to '_persuade_' them to give us their allowance so we could buy some drinks. Then Eyeball tried to get this chick's number, but struck out. And then Ace made some bets with…" Vince then pause his story when he noticed the crushed look on his mother's face. "Ma?"

"Vince, why do you always tell us stories about Ace Merrill and Eyeball Chambers and not what happened to you?" This always upset Mrs. Desjardin when her son would always recites tales of what his friends did and not what her son did.

"But you said anything would be fine."

"Answer your mother's question, Vince!" Mr. Desjardin demanded.

Vince simply shrugged, "I don't know. Whenever anything happens in the Cobras, it usually happens to Ace and Eyeball. We all just fade into the background. I guess we're just not as interesting as them."

Mrs. Desjardin shot up from the table. "What? That's just ridiculous, Vince! You're just as interesting as Junior's and Elton's boys, and that's final!" She then rubbed her hand down her son's back, giving him a half hug in the process.

"Come on son, isn't anything that specifically happen to _you_ last night that you can tell us?" His father asked him, a microscopic pleading look in his eyes. Vince looked up at the ceiling, eyes flicking as if they were processing something.

"Actually, there _was_ something that happened to me last night." Vince said, his parents perking up at this new information, "Billy's girlfriend had set me and Charlie up with her friends on a blind date and…."

* * *

_"Are you guys sure about this?" Gloria asked her friends as they led her down the street. Of all places she could be on a Saturday night, this was the last place she wanted to be._

"_Of course!" exclaimed Connie Palermo, "This guy is completely perfect for you."_

"_Yeah," said Gail, "When you see him, you'll completely understand why you guys would make the cutest couple!"_

_Gloria sighed. She really had no interest in boys or dating, and would rather much spend her time at home doing her homework and getting her GPA up so she can enroll into her dream college, but her friends insisted that she had to go on a blind date with some guy who she didn't even know. She wondered why she even hung out with these girls anyway. They had nothing in common with her._

_"So what is this guy like?" asked Gloria. Connie hadn't told her much about her blind date other than he was one of her boyfriend's friends and that she was setting her friends up with 'Two sexy Cobras'. Great, a night spent with Hoods._

_"Well..." trailed Connie, trying to think of something about the 'mystery man'. "He's really handsome!"_

_Gloria rolled her eyes. How typical. "Well, what does he do for a living?" Gloria asked, hoping to find out something that would be of use to her._

_Well…" Connie trailed off, but Gail flailed her arms in dismiss. _

"_It doesn't matter, Connie done something very nice for us; I can't wait to see my date. I have a good feeling I know who our dates are."Gail shot her a wink. This did little to comfort Gloria._

_Suddenly, the girls stopped in front of a restaurant. Each girl looked beautiful that night. Connie was dressed in blue, Gail was dressed in green, and Gloria was dressed in white._

_"I wonder where he is," said Connie, sounding concerned. "We told them to be here at Seven..."_

_"Does this mean the date is off?" Gloria asked eagerly. She hoped so. She really wanted to go home and grab her school bag so she can get to the library before it closed._

_"Of course not, silly," said Gail. "They'll show up, just be patient."_

"_Girls, look!" Connie pointed to the right. Gloria looked and saw a baby blue car rolling down the street before making an abrupt stop to the side. She could see three guys were inside it. There were two brunettes, one of whom she suspected was Billy, and one blond. Gloria froze when a thought crawled into her head._

Not those two; Anybody but those two. _She thought to herself._

"_Billy!" Connie exclaimed as her boyfriend step out of the car and hugged her, giving her a kiss on the temple._

"_Hey Babe, sorry for being late, took forever get these ass wipes ready." Billy explained, "Anyway, here are your dates, ladies." Billy stretched his hand away to show his friends. The two other boys stepped out of the car, and Gloria could see it was actually two blond boys instead of one._

_Gail's expression went from excitement to disappointment to frowning. _

"_Hey! You two aren't Ace Merrill and Eyeball Chambers!" __she exclaimed angrily._

"_What the… aw man!" Groaned Charlie Hogan, "Why does this always happen to us? Seriously, why do Ace and Eyeball always get the girls? There are other Cobras!"_

_"But… but…" the poor girl was rendered speechless. Gloria just gave her friend a sympathy pat on the shoulder._

"_So, is the date still on? Cause I could be with the boys over in Chamberlain." Vince said, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here._

_"Please, everyone, just one date?" begged Connie. "You don't ever have to go on another one ever again! Just this once, please!"_

_Gloria sighed and looked at Vince. He looked back with an equally annoyed expression on his face. Billy and Connie watched them with desperate, pleading expressions on their faces._

_Gloria looked down, defeated. "Fine, I'll go on the stupid date," She muttered. _

"_Yeah, me too." Gail piped up, shooting Charlie a disgusted look. Both girls walked into the restaurant. _

_Connie sighed before looking at Vince and Charlie, "Sorry about the mix up boys."_

"_Don't be, I'm sure once we get a couple of beers in them, we'll be good to go." Vince said, he and Charlie high-fiving each other._

* * *

_The date had been a disaster. Gloria and Vince had been in the restaurant for only ten minutes, and so far hadn't spoken a word to each other. It took all of Gloria's strength not to strangle Vince as he ate his meal and drink his beverage as loudly as he could, burping even for good measure. Charlie had tried to make some small talk with Gail, what she thought about this new show coming out next year called _The Dick Van Dyke Show, _and_ _even the most menial of subjects such as the weather. But Gail would just ignore him and mutter about how she wished she was with Ace instead._

_Eventually when they were done eating and when the waiter gave them their bills, Vince suddenly got into an argument with the waiter, almost getting into a fist fight with him, but Gloria cut in, paying for everyone meals (Well, Billy and Connie help paid too). And all six walked out the restaurant._

_"Don't talk to me at school on Monday." Gloria told Connie as she made her way home, not even bothering to try to get a lift from the boys._


	2. Quidaciolu

Disclaimer: Not mines, don't sue.

A/N: Another new chapter!

* * *

Quidaciolu was sweeping the floor of his convenience store this fine afternoon after having recently just finish up doing inventory. He haven't had a customer in almost four hours and thought it looked to be a pretty quiet day.

Well, it was until he saw a convertible driving up to his store, a huge cloud of dust in its wake. Quidaciolu step closer to the door when he saw a young man, probably in his mid-twenties come speeding out the car and into the shop.

"Sire, do you have payphone?" The man asked him.

"Yes, it's in the back," Quidaciolu said as he pointed behind him, the man rushing past him. "What's the emergency?"

"It's my wife, her water broke, and we were on our way to the hospital when our car ran out of gas!" The man exclaimed as he put quarters into the phone.

"Jerry!" moaned a voice as both men turned their heads to see a young woman strut into the store, her back arch and one hand on her swollen belly.

"Donna, get back in the car, I'm calling an ambulance!" Jerry explained.

"Jerry, I don't think it can wait, this baby is coming now." Donna said through tear coated eyes. Jerry's jaw dropped.

"Now? As in _now_ now? Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God…" Jerry fretted after hearing this news. After watching this young couple panic, Quidaciolu took charge of the situation.

"Get her to the backroom." Jerry stopped clutching his head and looked at him.

"Wha?"

"There's no time, hurry!" Quidaciolu told as he helped carry Donna into the back. Jerry stared at them for a few seconds before rushing into the back to open the door for them. Once they got in, Quidaciolu told Jerry to push all the stuff off the table onto of the floor. "We need to keep her elevated."

After that task was done, both lifted Donna onto the table.

"I can still call the ambulance." Jerry said as he tried to make a move to the phone, only for Quidaciolu to put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm afraid there's no time son," He told him, "We're going to have to deliver the baby ourselves."

"We? Us?" Jerry pointed from himself to the other man back and forth. "Sir, do you even _have_ any experience with this type of… of… situation?" Quidaciolu merely shrugged.

"Me and my brother used to help our uncle whenever his cows and horses were giving birth on the farm all the time back in the day. I'm going to assume it won't be any different with a human being."

"But…" Jerry tried to protest the seemingly faulty logic, but was interrupted by his wife's screaming.

"Quick, grab the washcloth and run it over some water." Quidaciolu instructed as he bended Donna's legs and lifted her dress. Jerry did just that and used the cloth to damp the sweat off his wife's brow.

Hours had passed and Quidaciolu kept checking to see if it was time for the baby to come out.

"Is it time yet, sir?" Donna asked him, clutching her husband's hand tightly.

"Not yet, but we're getting close." He told her as he looked up. "Just a couple of more minutes." Donna moaned and panted, her back arched back.

"Donna, I want you know that love you, okay?" Jerry told her, "We're going to get through this." He promised her. She nodded back, but then screamed as another contraction hit.

"There, it's dilating, now push!" Quidaciolu ordered, and Donna began pushing. "Push!" And she pushed. "Breath, breath, push!" She pushed again, screaming some more and nearly breaking her husband's hand. "I can see the head, PUSH!" And she gave one more final push, screaming at the top of her lung. Eventually her screams died down and were replaced by a different scream. Donna and Jerry looked up and saw Quidaciolu holding a crying baby in his hands, its whole body wrapped around a towel. "Congratulations you two, it's a boy." He told them with a kind smile on his face.

Donna and Jerry felt tears in their eyes as Quidaciolu handed them their baby. The happy couple smiled down on their gift from God as Donna gently rocked the baby in her arms.

"Hi sweetie, I'm your mama, hi." She cooed at her children. Jerry just wiped a tear and sniffled as he shook Quidaciolu's hand.

"Sir, thank you very much, we couldn't have done this without you."

"It was my pleasure." He told him. Eventually, they had made the call and the ambulance came to pick the happy couple up and take them to the hospital. Quidaciolu smiled as he proceeded to clean up the mess in the back. So much for a quiet day he thought to himself. It always seem like something odd would always happen around his store this time a day once a week.

Two weeks ago, some crooks attempted to rob him, but he defended himself from them with ease. And just last week, he remembered encountering a strange girl that had stepped into his store. She was wearing clothes like he had never seen before, that looked like they befitted a boy more, with some odd print on them. And he could never forget the money she gave him when she tried to pay for her purchases.

* * *

_"Hm…" he said as he examined the bill, "This five dollar bill you gave me doesn't look like any I've ever seen before, and it clearly says it was printed in the year two thousand nine, which is fifty years from now. I _should _consider this to be a pathetic counterfeiting attempt… but you look like an honest girl, so I'll just assume you're telling the truth." He rang up her purchases, handing her a receipt. "Come back soon!"_

* * *

Quidaciolu had finally gotten everything straight and settled when he heard the dinging from his front door and watch as a young slender looking boy with dark hair browse around his store, grabbing some coca-colas and asking for some hamburger patties.

Quidaciolu thought there was something vaguely familiar about the boy, so he asked him a question as he went to get his patties.

"You Denny Lachance's brother?" The boy looked at him with a mixture of shyness and confusion.

"Yeah."

"It's a shame what happen to your brother," Quidaciolu told him as he started some small talk with him.


	3. Denny

Disclaimer: Not mines, don't sue.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, hoped everybody had a great 4th of July (Well, if you celebrate it anyway), here's another new chapter.

* * *

_Tick-Tock Tick-Tock_

Ticked the clock as Denny Lachance stared intensely at it. It was getting close to when school let out, and Denny could not be glader for it. All that was left to do was wait for the teacher to return his test, tell the class what the homework assignment will be for the weekend, and then the bell will rang and he will be free to go.

He saw the teacher give Michael his test, he got an 74%. The teacher then gave Ann her test, she got 85%. After her, Thomas, who got an 63%. And lastly, Denny, who received an 94%. He breathed easily.

"I have to say, I am a little disappointed in your score, Mister Lachance." The teacher told him. Denny looked up at the teacher in shock.

"But Mister Henderson, it still a high grade." He pleaded.

"Yes, but still not good enough," Mr. Henderson told him, "I feel you are getting sloppy. We may have to look into getting you a tutor." Mr. Henderson then went on to the next student. Denny had to fight every urge in his body to slam his fist on the desk. It seem like no matter what grade he got on an assignment or a test, even if it was a really high one, it never seem to be good enough for his teachers. As if they expect him to get 100%s all the time.

Eventually, the bell rang and after the teacher telling the class to read chapters 29 through 31, Denny got up from his seat and step out the door. He walked up to his locker, did the combination on the lock, opened the door and put his books in. He was about to close the door when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hi Denny." said a voice that belong to a cute brunette, twinkling her delicate fingers at him.

"Oh, hi Doris," replied Denny. They stood like for a few minutes before Denny spoke up again. "Can I help you?" He asked, smiling lightly.

Doris slipped some of her hair behind her ear. "Yes, actually, I was wondering if you could walk me home today?" She asked, wrapped her arms behind her back and crossing her legs, her foot rubbing against the floor.

"Well actually..."

"Sorry, he can't," said another voice, "Because he's walking ME home, he promised." Both turned their heads to see a blonde girl making her way over.

"Mildred, I didn't promise, I said it could happen, but-" Denny tried to explain, but got cut off.

"Come on Dennis, let's go." She said, wrapping her arm around his.

"Oh, I didn't know, sorry." Doris apologized, bowing her head before walking away.

"Doris wait!" Denny called out to her, releasing himself from Mildred. "I can walk you home, don't worry." She smiled at him.

"What? Denny!" Mildred whined.

"I'm sorry, maybe another time?" He offered.

"Don't forget me." Said another voice, this time belonging to a raven haired girl.

"Norma? Uh, geez, I wish you could have asked me sooner." Denny said, scratching the back of his head nervously

"Jesus Christ Lachance, how many girls do you walk home?" Mildred asked, rolling her eyes. Then leaned in closer. "Unless they're getting a little somethin' somethin' out of this deal?" She whispered, winking at him and smirking.

Denny felt his cheeks heat up. "No, it's not like that, it's-" But again Mildred cut him off by laughing, patting his shoulder.

"I'm just teasing," She chuckled, "My parents will be out of town this weekend, feel free to come over any time you want." She whispered into his ear, then walked away, swaying her hips provocatively.

"Uh uh, let's go Doris." Denny quickly said, wrapping his arm around her should as they made their way to the door.

* * *

The two walked in silence for the most part, occasionally sneaking glances at each other. Eventually, Doris was the first one to speak up.

"So... do you usually have an army of girls wanting you to walk them home?" She asked, joking a little.

Denny couldn't help but smiled at this. "Not like _that_," Both ended up laughing at this.

Never once had Denny Lachance thought as soon as he hit puberty that he be such a hit with the ladies. It was strange how all the girls who didn't pay that much attention to him in middle school suddenly wanted to be around him all the time. Or even just stare at him, which creeped him out a little. It had often got to the point where Denny would find himself looking in the mirror a lot more than he used to these days, trying to see what so many people saw in him. Especially since he felt a lot of these girls tended to blow his reasonably handsome features _way_ out of proportion.

"So, are you really going to Mildred Pricely's house this weekend?" Doris asked, then looked down, feeling embarrassed for asking that.

"No no," He quickly shot down, waving his hands in the air, "I've already made some plans this weekend anyway."

"Oh really?" She asked, "What are you doing?"

"First I'm..." Denny paused when he looked ahead of them, before sighing inwardly. "Oh God."

"Denny, what is it?" Doris asked him, before following his gaze and grabbing his arm protectively. She understood why.

There standing a few blocks from them was Castle Rock's local "Bad boy" Ace Merrill. Standing around him were Billy Tessio and Vince Desjardin.

"Denny?" Doris asked nervously, looking up at him.

"Let's keep walking, maybe if we ignore them, they'll leave us alone." Denny instructed. The two did just that, walking ahead, trying their best to glance at any of them. Unfortunately just as they had reached them, Ace decided to step in front of them.

Both Denny and Ace just stared at each other for a few seconds, Ace's eyes seeming to bore into him. Denny tried to step the side, only for Ace to step there too. He tried his left, but Ace followed too.

"Move." Ace told him.

"'Move'? But you're the one standing in our way." Denny told him. Ace smirked at this.

"Oooh, are you the little tough guy, Lachance." Denny could hear Billy and Vince snickering in the background. Ace then looked at Doris. "Who's your friend?"

Denny instinctively put his arm in front of her, "Don't drag her into this." He told him.

"Hey," Ace said, looking over Denny's shoulder and ignoring him, "If you're tired of hanging around this fag, come see me, we'll have a great time." He then flashed her a wolfish grin.

"Let's go." Denny told Doris, grabbing her hand, and walking quickly pass the hoods. Before they could reach the corner, they heard Ace shout something to them.

"Hey Lachance, tell your brother thanks for the change, that burger _really_ hit the spot." Denny could feel his fist tighten, but quickly kept walking anyway, he didn't really want to get into a confrontation with Ace in front of Doris.

* * *

After a few more blocks, they had reach Doris's house.

"Well, thanks for walking me." She told him.

"Anytime." Denny nodded at her. She waved goodbye to him, then up the steps and walked through the door. Denny turned around and made his way home too.

Once reaching there, Denny went through the door, greeted his parents, then went upstairs so he could get out of his clothes and take a quick shower. After freshening up, Denny went into his room and collapsed on his bed, letting his aching muscles rest.

He laid there for a few minutes until he heard a light knock on his door. Rolling his eyes, Denny called out whoever was out there to come in, expecting his father or something.

"Hi Denny." Gordie waved at him. Denny's face just lit up.

"Hey Sport, how's it going?" Denny asked him, setting up.

"Nothing much," Gordie told him.

"Really?" Denny asked him, raising one eyebrow. He then reached over to his desk to grab his wallet and fish a few dollars out. "Here."

"But...?" Gordie just stared at the money confusingly.

"I ran into Ace today." Denny simply told him, and Gordie nodded his head in understanding. "So, are you ready for this weekend?"

"You mean we're still on?" Gordie asked him, his eyes lighting up.

"Are you kidding?" Denny asked him, wrapping his arm his brother's neck, bringing him closer. "I have the whole weekend planned. First..." And then Denny trailed on, talking animatedly what they will be doing.

If there was one thing to bring up Denny's spirits after a stressful day, it was spending some quality with his little brother.


	4. Charlie

Disclaimer: Not mines, don't sue.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed , here's another new chapter.

* * *

That evening, the setting sun was bathing Castle Rock in a shower of golden-orange before it would soon be replace with a deep turquoise sky and silvery moon.

A girl was walking aimlessly down the road. Her blue dress flapping between her legs with each step she took as if it were dancing around her feet. Soft delicate hands clutching around three books press strongly against an emaciated body as if they were some kind of sacred treasure. Chestnut hair tied up in a severe bun. Thick black rim glasses, looking like they belong better on the face of one Teddy Duchamp than on a mousy girls like this, adored her face, magnifying her twinkling blue eyes.

On the whole, this girl looked very nerdy, but maybe without those glasses and that hair let loose, she might be beautiful under it all.

Well, beautiful to anybody but Charlie Hogan, who zoomed passed this girl as he sped down the road, already deciding that this girl was not worthy of his time.

Charlie was on his way to the Tessio resident, looking forward to a night out with his buddy Billy. He had been feeling a little glum for the past couple of days and needed some cheering up. Despite being a Cobra, Charlie doesn't receive a lot of respect from his fellow students and townspeople, many writing him off as the weakest of the Cobras due to his frail body structure.

This pissed him off and needed some way to prove them all wrong, that he was just as tough as all the other Cobras. Taking a swing of his beer, he drove up to the driveway and was about to get out when he notice there were no cars there, but a light was still on in the living room.

"Huh, what's going on-?" Charlie was about to ask himself when he remembered why, it was Wednesday, so Billy was on his date with Connie and his parents were out at a late night church event, so why was there a light still on.

Creeping up to the window, he peered inside and was surprise to see Vern inside. Why would he still be home? Wouldn't he be usually at one of his friend's houses? It was then that Charlie got an idea. Vern is the wimpiest kid in Castle Rock, as well as the most gullible, he could easily make himself look like a badass in front of him and the pussy would go all 'Ooh' and 'Aah' over him. It was perfect and would cheer Charlie up.

With a smirk on his face, Charlie watched up to the porch and rapped his knuckles against the door. A few seconds later, he heard shuffling and eventually the door open.

"Hi Charlie, sorry, but Billy not here, he's—"

"Actually Vern," Charlie began, a sweet smile on his face, "I'm here to see you."

Vern flinched in surprise. "Me?" Pointing to himself.

"Yeah, I was going to go out on a night on the town, wanna come?"

"Why do you want me to go?"

"Do you want to go or not?" Charlie barked at him.

"Okay okay, I'm going, I'm going!" Vern told him as he went to put his shoes on.

"Sorry, I can't control my temper, because I'm such a bad man." Charlie said, puffing his chest for effect. Vern stared at him oddly before stepping out the door with him and locking it. The two got in the car and drove off down the street, the shirt sleeves ruffing in the cool night air. They had been driving around for a couple of minutes before reaching a stop sign.

Charlie looked down at the boy sitting in the passenger seat and decided that now would be a good time to make himself look like a badass in front of Vern. Smirking, Charlie stared forward and took another sip of his beer.

"You shouldn't be here Vern, I'm trouble."

"What?" Vern turned to look at him, confusion written all over his face, "But you invited me?"

"I know, but people would probably say I was the one who was a bad influence of you if turned to a life of crime."

"Why are you a bad influence?"

"Because I break the law. I'm a bad boy, out for a bad time." And as if to prove his point, Charlie took one final swig of his beer before nonchalantly throwing it over to the side of the road. "I'll probably get jail time for that."

"For what?" Vern asked, trying to look over Charlie's side of the car, "Littering?"

"I'm so bad, I'm almost evil." Charlie said looking at him, crossing his arms and giving an "evil" smile.

Vern snorted, "I don't think you can go to jail for that," Then looked up as if actually pondering the thought, "Can you?"

Unfortunately, Vern was never able to get an answer as at that moment, both saw two mustangs driving up to the them in the review mirror. Inside them was four boys each, sharply dressed, and hair perfectly combed. Wearing outfits ranging from dress coats to varsity jackets

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Charlie panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"That's the White Coats, our rival gang from up on the View." Charlie explained, then tried to straighten himself up when he saw he was looking weak in front of Vern. "But it's okay, they won't bother us. They know a Cobra when they see one."

"Hey look, it's one of Ace Merrill's lapdog." Called out one of them. Panicking, Charlie sped down the road, the White Coats hot on their trail. They zipped around and changed lanes to give them the slip, but the White Coats were persistent. Eventually, they reached and dead end, and Charlie and Vern got out of the car.

"Fuck, it's no use, they got us cornered!" Charlie exclaimed as he clutch parts of his hair tightly.

"Actually, um, they're only a few blocks away, and there's a right lane up ahead, we could have—"

"I have a plan." Charlie grinned. He then sat down on the ground.

"How's that 'posse to help?" Vern exclaimed.

"Well, it'll save them time from trying to get us to the ground?" He shrugged.

"Couldn't we just run?" Vern suggested, then suddenly frowned at the suggestion he made, "Aww man, not running."

"You go, I think I can hold them off."

"All eight of them!?"

"I think you're under-estimating how tough I am, Vern."

"But-?"

"Hey, there you are," One of the them, a blond, called out to them.

"Run, Vern, run!" Shouted Charlie.

"Hey, do either of you know the directions to the Civic Center?"

"Civic Center?" Vern repeated the question.

"Yeah, we've been driving around for the past hour and a half trying to find it, but we're lost. Can either of you two help us?"

"Run while you still can, Vern!" Charlie yelled in the background, "Do what you want with me White Coats, but leave the kid alone!"

Vern gave Charlie a strange look before answering the blond's question, "Yeah, just go back the way you came, take a left at Forks Street, get going to you reach Westchester Avenue, turn right, keep going and your there."

"Thanks kid." The blond patted Vern on the shoulder, before walking towards his car and the others got into their respective cars too.

"Wow, I guess you can't always assume a rival gang is always coming to beat you up." Vern laughed.

Charlie got off the ground and smirked proudly, "Good thing I got rid of them. They were gonna beat you up."

Vern couldn't believe what Charlie had just said. "Beat me up? Were you listening at all?"

He put his hand on the other boy's shoulder, "You can thank me later. But let's go going, we still got a lot more to do." Vern just shook his head and followed.

* * *

The rest of the night wasn't any better. They had stop at a local pub and Charlie apparently had been bitten with the gambling bug. Vern kept trying to warn him that maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but Charlie ignored him. A couple of roads later, Charlie had been so broke, he couldn't even _pay_ attention.

Afterward, the guy he had been gambling with offered him a chance to get his money back. All he would have to do was beat him in a drag race.

"Charlie, I don't think this is a good idea, sincerely." Vern tried to reason with him again.

"Naw man, I have to do this. I know what I'm doing." Charlie told him as he revved up the engine. A girl stood between the two cars, raised her hands up, then threw them down, indicating that the race had started. The two cars drove off. It was a neck-and-neck race, they both sped down hills and around trees, each trying to get ahead of the other. Vern thought he was seriously going to get car sick.

Charlie and Vern had almost reach the finish line when the competitor car sped up to them and ram into them. Then ram into them again, knocking them off the trail. The rival car then crossed the finisher. The guy simply shrugged his shoulders sarcastically before walking off. Vern just stared at Charlie through half-lidded eyes while Charlie lied back in the seat, panting hard.

* * *

Charlie had drove up to the Tessio resident and Vern got out of the car.

"Had fun?" Charlie asked him. Vern turned to look at him and shook his head.

"No."

"Well… do you at least think I'm a badass?"

Vern thought about this, then shook his head again. "No." And with that, Vern unlock the door and step back into his house, slamming it.

"Fuck." Charlie moaned as he slammed his forehead onto the steer wheel, hitting the car horn.


	5. Tupper Babe

Disclaimer: Not mines, don't sue.

A/N: New chapter, thanks for everyone who reviewed. Also, yeah, I always found it weird how there's almost never any focus on Gordie's and Denny's relationship since it was like, a huge part of Gordie's character BoatsAgainstTheCurrent . Then again, a lot of the family relationships between the characters tend to not get focus much anyway, so….

* * *

**BANG!**

Tupper Babe was halfway done writing her current customer's order on her notepad when suddenly there was a loud bang outside, causing her writing to zigzag.

"Darlene, check out what that was!" yelled her boss, Earl the cook, from the back.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." She told her customer as she made her way to the backdoor, placing her notepad on the counter.

"Hey, who did that? Who's letting cherry bombs off out here?" She called out as she looked around. She saw nothing and made her way back in. Along the way, she could have sworn she saw a hole in one of the garbage cans outside and it was smoking, but she brushed it off.

"Found out what it was?" Earl asked her as he flipped a burger patty.

She sighed, "No, whoever it was left. Must have been some kids pulling a prank or something." Tupper Babe explained. Earl nodded his head and went back to cooking. It was almost nearly noon and they both needed to get back to work before the lunchtime crowd came in.

"Sorry about that hun, and what would like to drink with that?" She asked her customer sweetly.

"Oh, just a Pepsi," He replied.

"Very good, your order will be up in a couple of minutes." She told him as she ripped the note out from her pad and turned around to give it to the cook.

"Burger and fries with Pepsi." She told her as he passed her note. She then looked around the diner and saw how sparse it was. There was an old couple with two younger children, that she assume was their grandchildren, sitting at a booth together. There were a couple of teens from Castle View, all sharply dressed in lettermen jackets and hair all comb perfectly back, sitting around a couple booths. A middle age woman sitting by her lonesome. And a man in a business suit was sitting by himself reading a newspaper.

Overall, things seem to be order, and her boss figured there was a enough time to make some small talk with her as he almost got one of the orders finish.

"So Darlene, looking forward to Labor Day?" Earl asked her as he placed a patty on a bun.

Tupper Babe merely chuckled, "What's to look forward to? I'm just going to be working here anyway."

"Oh, I don't know, we usually get less people here on Labor Day weekend, so you might get some time off." Earl told as he was currently squirting some ketchup and mustard on top of a patty.

"Really?" She asked him.

"Sure, take some time off, I can manage here just fine." Earl said to her as he place the last finishing touches onto his latest entrée.

DING

"Thanks Earl," She told him with a smile as she picked up the platter and made her way over to the business man. "Here you go sir."

The older man thanked her and she heard the bell again. She was about to get the next order when the door jingled and three men stepped in. "I'll be there in a minute, please take a seat." She called out to them as she went to the counter. After delivering the orders to the teenagers, she made her way over to the gentlemen, notepad in hand. "Hello, welcome to the Blue Point Diner, what can I get you?"

"Is your number on the menu?" One of the men asked, the others laughing at this. Tupper Babe nervously laughed at this.

"Actually my friend here would like some ice cream." One of them told her and she wrote it down.

"And I would like some potato salad, chips and tea." One of the others said,

"Good, good," Tupper Babe nodded as she scribbled all this down. "And what would you like, sir?" She asked the last one.

"Oh I'll take some bake beans, a coffee, and… all the money you have in your register, please." Tupper Babe was halfway done writing that order when she paused and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" But she trailed off, her eyes widening from behind her cat eye glasses when she saw him slowly pulling out a gun.

"Alright, this is stick-up, everybody in the corner now!" He shouted as he stood up, pointing the gun into the air. The other two stood up, revealing guns as well.

"Hey, what is the meaning of this?" One of the teenagers demanded as he made his way over to the criminals, "I'll have you know that my father-!" But he never got to finish his sentence as one of the robbers punched him the face with the butt of the gun, causing him to fall to the ground and blood to start flowing out of his nose and mouth like a river. His friends scuffled over to get him and carry him to the others.

"Darlene, what's that-?" Earl called out before sawing what happen, he too ended up raising his hands.

"You!" One of them shouted as he walked over to Earl, gun pointed right between his eyes, "Give me all the cash in your register!" He ordered. Earl nodded nervously and fumbled around, trying to open up the cash register.

"The rest of you," The leader of the trio announced as he turned to look at them, waving his gun around back and forth, "Any personal belongings, in the bag." The other guy then walked over to them, bag in one hand and gun in the other, going left to right to get their belonging. They gave them anything they had that was worth any value: Watches, earrings, rings, necklaces, you name it.

When he reached the old couple, one of their grandkids was crying.

"Sir, Ma'am, if you don't shut that kid up, I will." The robber said, which caused the child to cry even more.

"Come on Russell, stop crying." Pleaded his sister, but it wasn't getting him to calm down any faster.

"Russell, sweetie, we'll be okay, but place calm down." The grandmother tried to sooth him.

"Come on Russell, when this is over, we'll all go get some ice cream to calm us down. How does that sound?" His grandfather pleaded too.

"Let me try something," Tupper Babe offered as she slowly made his way over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "Russell is it? Want to hear a song my mother use to sing to me?" She asked him. Then she started singing softly _Swing Low, Sweet Chariot_ which helped calm him down a little. Eventually, his grandparents joined in, and Russell stop crying.

The crook going help but smile at this, "You have a way with kids," He complimented her. "might come in useful once we have our own." He snickered, Tupper Babe shot him a disgusted look.

After getting all they wanted, the crooks made their way to the exit. "We appreciate the co-operation folks, have a nice lunch everyone." The leader said as he gave a salute.

"And I'll see you for that number later." The crook who kept hitting on Tupper Babe shouted as they walked out the door.

Silence filled the diner before everybody dispersed. Earl made his way to the phone to dial the operator so he could get the police and an ambulance.

"Never a dull day, is it Darry?" Earl called out to her as he stood hear waiting for someone to pick.

"Got that right." She agreed.


	6. Milo Pressman

Disclaimer: Not mines, don't sue.

A/N: Been a while. Here's chapter 6.

* * *

**BRRRRRNNNGGGG!**

An alarm clock ranged into the air, belonging to one Milo Pressman before he slammed his fist on it to silence it. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before getting up. He stretched and let out a yawn before getting off the bed and scratched his back. He walked from his room into the kitchen to greet his dog.

"Morin' boy," Milo petted Chopper, who whined as he sat up to enjoy the caress. "Now let's see what we have for breakfast." He opened the refrigerator door and looked around. A bottle of milk, a couple slices of bread, a brick of cheese, some vegetable, a stick of butter, and a carton of eggs. "This should do it." Grabbing the carton, his closed the door and lifted the lip, only to find only one egg left. "Son of a bitch!" he grumbled as he closed it. "I'll be right back." Milo grumbled as he went back into his room to change from his pajamas to some casual clothing.

Once he was dressed, he got his keys, went out the door, got inside his truck, and tried to start it only for it sputter. He furrowed his brows and tried to start it again, and still nothing. "Damn it, I just put gas in it, shit!" He grumbled as he slammed his hand against the dials. He got outside and opened the front and examined it. He couldn't find anything, so he checked the back and saw something logged into the tailpipe.

He crouched down and touched it. It felt rough and this time, he got a good grip and pulled, only for it to break in half and squished in his hands. "A Potato?" Suddenly, Milo heard laughter and snickering behind him. He looked around him and saw some kids hiding behind some bushes and a tree, laughing at his misfortune. "Hey! Hey you kids, did you do this?" He demanded and the kids ran away. "Get back here, get back here goddamnit!" He yelled at them. Cursing, he got the rest of the potato out and got back inside his truck, started it up, and drove down to the supermarket.

* * *

Milo was standing in a long line, carton of eggs in hand, waiting for his turn to ring up his item. He was patiently waiting in line, but his patience was starting to wear thin as there was a long line of customers in front of him, at least six, and there was one old lady who up to twenty groceries the cashier was ringing up.

"Can this line go any slower? I've had runs that were faster than this!" Milo complained out loud.

"Well sir," the cashier started, hearing Milo's complaint, and never stopping to check out each item, "If you want, you can take it to my manager, and I can get him for you, but then that would mean I would have to leave my station. And since I'm the only one working right now, that would cause us to loose _more_ time, but I could finish up soon if you let me do my job, sir."

Milo frowned as he glanced around saw the other shoppers trying to contain their laughter. He just rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated groan.

* * *

Milo had gotten his eggs and saw now driving home when he reached an intersection and waited for the light to change. As he sat there waiting, a convertible drove up next to him. A young woman was rocking her head to some rock n' roll song the radio was blaring and it was giving Milo a headache. He kept staring at the light, only occasionally sneaking glances at the young woman as she kept rocking to the song.

"Change…" Milo said under his breath. He looked at the woman and saw her turning the radio up. "Change…." But traffic was still zooming by with no end in sight. The woman decided that the song was loud enough, and turned it up even higher. "_Change…_" And eventually it did, and Milo zoomed out of there.

* * *

Now that Milo had his breakfast, he was sitting in his living room watching TV and going over his bills. He had some time kill before he had to get ready for work in five hours, and he felt it was better to get his expenses taken care of first before getting ready.

He was almost finishing up the rest of his bills when he heard a knock on the door.

"Who the hell could that be?" He said to himself as he got up and answered the door. He opened it and saw three children, two boys and one girls looking between the ages of nine and seven, and an elderly woman. "Oh, Mrs. Jenkins, how can I help you?" He asked as he gave her his kindest smile.

"Mr. Pressman, I have some errands to run, I was wondering if you could watch my nephews and niece?"

"Actually, I was…"

"Oh, thank you, I'll be back in a few minutes." Mrs. Jenkins said, not giving Milo time to speak, as she left.

"Wait, come back here, I don't even like ki-!" But she was gone. Milo sighed and looked down at the three children. "Eh, how bad could it be?"

* * *

"Put that down!" Milo shouted at one of the little boys who was holding one of his vases. "Don't jump on that!" Milo shouted at the little girl was jumping on his couch. Suddenly, he heard a yelp and saw that the other little boy was pulling on Chopper's tail, Chopper himself dragging the boy behind him as if he was water skiing. "D-Don't pull on his tail!" He screamed at the little boy.

"Mr. Pressman, what's this?" The little girl called out to him as he saw her reaching for a music box on his table that had a glass angel on top.

"No! Stay away; don't touch it!" Milo shrieked as he barreled over to her, snatching the music box before she could get her grubby little hands on it.

"Well what is it then?" She asked her, her innocent brown eyes looking up at him. Milo's features soften as he explained.

"It was before you were born. I met a pretty young dame back when I was only in my twenties. One night, before she left to go study in Italy, she—"

"Hey, check out this plane. Does it fly?" One of the boys asked, interrupting Milo's story, as he picked up the model plane, ready to throw it.

"Don't touch that! Put that down this instant!" Milo ordered as he put the music box done and ran over to the kid. Just as he was about to reached him…

**CRASH**

Milo slowly turned around and saw the shattered glass angel on the floor, the music box opened and gears and wires sticking out.

* * *

Milo was at his junkyard, loading some stuff into the back of his truck.

"I hope I never see another kid again." He swore as he reached his truck. After putting some stuff in the back, he turned around and saw a kid in a red shirt standing in the middle of his yard. "Hey! Hey you kid, what are you doing? Get over here!" But when the kid saw he had been spotted, he made a run for it. "You, get back here! Get back here!" He angrily demanded, and then he saw three other kids were at the other side of the fence, cheering their friend on. "Sic 'em boy!"

* * *

Eh, wasn't really feeling this chapter. But I feel this is as good as it's going to get. Hopefully the next one will be better. :/


End file.
